Romain Ntamack

Romain Ntamack (born 1 May 1999) is a French professional rugby union player who plays as a fly-half for Top 14 club Toulouse and the France national team.

Romain Ntamack
Ntamack representing France
Date of birth (1999-05-01) 1 May 1999
Place of birthToulouse, France
Height1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight86 kg (190 lb; 13 st 8 lb)
Notable relative(s)Émile Ntamack (father)
Francis Ntamack (uncle)
Théo Ntamack (brother)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Fly-half, Centre
Current team Toulouse
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2017– Toulouse 107 (351)
Correct as of 12 June 2023
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2017–2018 France U20 15 (125)
2017–2018 French Barbarians 2 (13)
2019– France 37 (156)
Correct as of 12 August 2023

Playing for Toulouse since his childhood, he won a first Top 14 title in 2018–19 with the French club, before winning the French championship and European Rugby Champions Cup double in 2021. He made his senior debut for France against Wales during the 2019 Six Nations Championship after previously being called up to the France U20 team. In 2019, he was a member of the France squad which reached the quarter-finals of the 2019 Rugby World Cup and was then named the World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year at the World Rugby Awards. Alongside his half-back partner Antoine Dupont, Ntamack won the 2022 Six Nations Championship, the first French Grand Slam since 2010.

He is the son of former French international player Émile Ntamack, the nephew of Francis Ntamack and the older brother of current professional player Théo Ntamack, his Toulouse teammate.

Early life

Romain Ntamack was born on (1999-05-01)1 May 1999 in Toulouse, France.[1] His father is former French international player Émile Ntamack, who played for Toulouse his whole career. He is also the nephew of former French international player Francis Ntamack and the older brother of professional player Théo Ntamack, his club teammate.[2] On his father's side, he is of Cameroonian and French Pied-Noir descent,[3] while his mother is of French ancestry with Ariège roots.[4] His paternal grandfather left Africa to settle down in Lyon where his father was born.[5]

He started playing rugby union in his hometown and joined his father's club youth system at the age of five.[6]

Club career

On 30 September 2017, Ntamack made his professional debut in the Top 14 in a home win against Agen, coming on as a substitute in the 38th minute.[7] For his second professional season, he won the 2018–19 Top 14, following a 24–18 win over Clermont in the final, in which he came off the bench.[8]

Two years after his first Bouclier de Brennus, he won the 2020-21 Top 14 and 2020–21 European Rugby Champions Cup double.[9] On 22 May 2021, he helped his team defeating La Rochelle in a 17–22 final win and became with his dad the first father and son combination to win the trophy,[10] before winning his second France championship title one month later.[11]

On 25 May 2022, Toulouse announced that he extended his contract with the club until 2028, alongside his brother Théo who meanwhile reached an agreement on a three-year contract extension.[12]

Ntamack played his hundredth game with Toulouse in a Heineken Champions Cup 20–16 home win against Munster on 22 January 2023.[13]

International career
Ntamack (right) playing for France in 2023

At the age of 17 years nine months and ten days, Ntamack was double upgraded and played his first game for France's under-20 team against Scotland on 10 February 2017 in the Six Nations Under 20s Championship.[14] He was later named in the France squad for the 2017 World Rugby Under 20 Championship.[15] In November, Ntamack was called up to the French Barbarians and played as a starter in a 19–15 victory over Māori All Blacks.[16]

In 2018, he won both the 2018 Six Nations Under 20s Championship and the 2018 World Rugby Under 20 Championship with France U20.[17] Then, he was once again called up to the French Barbarians in the autumn but lost the game against Tonga on 10 November.[18]

On 1 February 2019, Ntamack made his senior international test debut for France starting as an outside centre against Wales in the Six Nations Championship.[19] He was subsequently named in France's squad for the 2019 Rugby World Cup and became the youngest French player to ever play in a World Cup, starting at the 10 against Argentina.[20] After the tournament, he was named the World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year at the 2019 World Rugby Awards.[21]

Being the starting fly-half alongside his Toulouse teammate Antoine Dupont at the scrum-half when France finished in second place in the 2020 and 2021 Six Nations Championships,[22] he then won the 2022 Championship, playing in all five games and winning the first French Grand Slam since 2010.[23]

Career statistics

List of international tries
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 23 February 2019 Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France  Scotland 5–0 27–10 2019 Six Nations
2 9 February 2020 Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France  Italy 28–10 35–22 2020 Six Nations
3 22 February 2020 Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Wales  Wales 16–24 23–27 2020 Six Nations
4 31 October 2020 Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France  Ireland 22–13 35–27 2020 Six Nations
5 20 November 2021 Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France  New Zealand 12–6 40–25 2021 Autumn internationals
6 26 February 2023 Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France  Scotland 5–0 32–21 2023 Six Nations
7 12 August 2023 Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne, France  Scotland 11–10 30–27 2023 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches

Honours
Toulouse
France
France U20
Individual

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2022 Le Stade Himself Documentary [24]

Television
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2022 Le Stade Himself Documentary [25]

See also

References
  1. Souillès, Gilles (29 December 2019). "Toulouse. Romain Ntamack : de la tête et des épaules…". La Dépêche du Midi (in French). Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  2. Picard, Zoé (28 February 2023). "Le rugbyman Romain Ntamack fait de sa vie une oeuvre". ActuaLitté (in French). Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  3. "Ntamack, la grande star". Le Parisien (in French). 2 February 2008. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  4. Rouquier, Jean-Paul (30 October 1999). "« Emile N'Tamack: un type formidable »". La Dépêche du Midi (in French). Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  5. Le Floc'h, Fabien (24 June 2022). "Romain Ntamack : mère, origine... Qui est le demi d'ouverture du XV de France ?". L'Internaute (in French). Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  6. "Ntamack : Romain, sur les traces du père ?". Midi Olympique (in French). 17 March 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  7. "Toulouse: grands débuts de Romain Ntamack en Top 14". Le Point (in French). 17 March 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  8. Pécout, Adrien (16 June 2019). "Rugby : le Stade toulousain, prometteur champion de France". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  9. Thornley, Gerry (25 June 2021). "Toulouse complete the double as La Rochelle's wait for glory goes on". The Irish Times. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  10. "Ntamack adds to family legacy with winners medal". EPCR. 24 May 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  11. @StadeToulousain (25 June 2021). "Champions de France 🏆🛡️" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  12. @StadeToulousain (25 May 2022). "Romain and Théo Ntamack prolongent au Stade" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  13. "Romain NTAMACK: profile and stats". All.Rugby. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  14. Genin, Laurent (22 February 2017). "La fulgurante ascension de Romain Ntamack, numéro 10 des U20 à seulement 17 ans". Rugbyrama (in French). Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  15. Canot, Aurélien (22 May 2017). "CM 2017 (U20) : Les 28 joueurs retenus". Rugby 365 (in French). Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  16. Knowler, Richard (11 November 2017). "New Zealand Māori suffer surprise loss to French Barbarians". Stuff. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  17. Boscherini, Jules (17 June 2020). "Ça s'est passé un 17 juin 2018 : l'équipe de France U20 remporte son 1er titre mondial à domicile". France Info (in French). Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  18. "Tonga beats French Barbarians 49-38 in 13-try thriller". Yahoo! News. 10 November 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  19. Tazé-Bernard, Thierry (1 February 2019). "6 Nations : Romain Ntamack, une première comme travailleur de l'ombre face aux Gallois". France Info (in French). Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  20. Roblin, Yohan (21 September 2019). "France-Argentine : Romain Ntamack, itinéraire d'un jeune Bleu pressé". TF1 (in French). Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  21. @WorldRugby (3 November 2019). "Congratulations to @FranceRugby star Romain Ntamack who has won the World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year award" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  22. Eddison, Paul (30 November 2021). "End of Year Review: France". Six Nations Championship. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  23. Bray, Jonny (24 March 2022). "France's Grand Slam in numbers". Six Nations Championship. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  24. Vau, Alexandre (13 April 2022). "Débuts prometteurs pour "Le Stade", le film du Stade Toulousain qui sort en salle ce mercredi". France Bleu (in French). Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  25. Guerrin, Stéphanie (18 October 2022). "Paramount+ : c'est quoi cette nouvelle plate-forme qui débarque en France le 1er décembre ?". Le Parisien (in French). Retrieved 31 March 2023.
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